The Friendly Club!
The St George Chess Club prides itself on a diverse membership with a range of chess abilities. We foster a social atmosphere for players of all ages and abilities.
The club runs regular internal club competitions and participates in interclub tournaments. More information about the activities can be found from the calendar.
Club Games: 7:30pm Tuesday nights, Prince Edward Rooms, St George Leagues Club, 124 Princes Highway, Kogarah NSW
News
Sydney Chess Champs 2024
With nearly 200 entrants across two divisions (Open and Classic), the inaugural edition of the Sydney Chess Championships was a great success. Held at the venerable, much-esteemed James Ruse Agricultural High School across five days (July 6-10), it was one of the best run, if not the best-run, tournaments I’ve attended. The brainchild of Rooty Hill Chess Club dynamo Winston Zhao Chen, the event was held in the school’s barn-like assembly hall, providing plenty of space for all the participants to move freely. Winston also had DGT boards set up for the top boards in both divisions, with games broadcast on Chess.com. International Arbiter Charles Zworestine from the club was the chief arbiter, ably assisted by IA Peter Tsai and Bevan Clouston.
The Open Division was won by FM Hugo de Melo Lux, who scored 7.5/9. Close behind was St George’s own CM Khishigbataar Bayasgalan on 7, a scored also matched by IM Gary Lane. Several other St George-affiliated players were also in the mix up until the last round: IM George Xie (6.5); CM Daniel Melamed (6.5); Brendan Anderson (6); FM Clive Ng (6); Vu Ky Anh Nguyen (5) and CM Terrence Tang (6).
The Classic Division was won by Shaheed Faizal, also on 7.5/9, followed by Vicky Qian, Daniil Yelkhovsky and Eric Menezes, all on 7/9. St George three participants were Isaac Wang (4/9); Geoff Hyde (3/9) and Samuel Slingo (2.5/9).
All the results can be found here.
Round 4: St George Club Teams Challenge Jun 11 – Aug 6
It was the ZZZ’s again leading the charge in Round 4, their four wins widening their lead over Plant’s Pinned Parsnips to three points. These two top teams sit on 17.5/20 and 14.5/20, with Curtis’ Castling Carrots (11/20) still holding onto to third place. The Z’s success has been anchored by their Boards 3 and 5: Leo Xu and William Liu remain the only players with perfect scores; but all of the other team members have also held their own, with not a single loss in any round.
Individual results for Rounds 1-4 are now available in two different formats (take your pick between the one generated by the Orion software or that by Vega), and as usual, can also be accessed via the Results page.
Upcoming Events at St George & elsewhere
NSW Rapid Championships Sunday July 21
A one-day, 7-round tournament, with a reasonably relaxed (for rapid) time control: 15 minutes per game, with a 10 second bonus per move. There are prizes across five divisions, so there always a chance you might get your registration money back! Games are ACF and FIDE rated. The venue is the Sydney Academy of Chess, Burwood. Registration is now open and full details are here.
New England Open, Armidale, 14-15th September
This is a very pleasant six-round tournament (60 mins per player, plus 10s/move increment) in the charming university city of Armidale. In 2023, several St George players journeyed north-westwards, and some are already planning to do so again. Full details, and instructions on how to register, can be found here.